How much did Kylo/Ben live up to his potential? *What* was it to you?
Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is kind of at ground center for most of the ST’s marketing , debate about its decisions, debate about its quality, and at the heart of the BTS decision making process: months spent designing his look for TFA, clearly one of Rian Johnson’s favorite characters, and someone LFL didn’t want as the main villain for TROS, leading to Palpatine’s return.
So I kind of want to discuss both how well he lived up to his potential... and *what* exactly you guys think his potential really was.
Adam Driver’s a magnificent actor. But so are Boyega, Ridley, Hamill, Ford, McDiarmid, etc. Did he get used the right way? Which film used him best? Which film used him worst?
Like, to me, this kind of comes down to a dispute about whether or not Ben Solo as a male lead and Rey’s companion is what he was supposed to be, or if Kylo Ren was supposed to be Rey’s enemy and main antagonist. I feel that if Rey was meant to be the main lead with Finn as her companion as part of an overall feminist and progressive message, than Kylo was meant to be the main villain only. Frankly, while Adam Driver playing Han and Leia’s kid sounds like it [I]should[/I] be the male lead... I don’t think it can be if Daisy Ridley is supposed to play the [I]actual[/I] lead, whether as a Skywalker or not; you can’t have him overwhelm her role in the story.
I also don’t think his potential was truly realized as either Kylo or Ben: LFL refused to have him hated enough to make Kylo a great villain, but Ben Solo is literally monosyllabic and only around for a few minutes.
To me, the closest he got to being used “right” was in TFA:
- He’s an functional badguy for the entire film, and while pitiable, we’re *not* asked to sympathize with him [B]over[/B] other characters.
- He wears his best villainous costume - seriously, the “tattered tabard” look makes a more imposing and detailed silhouette and complements the mask better than his other outfits.
- He comes off as more intimidating and dangerous Force user here in comparison to Rey - he freezes blaster bolts in mid-air, twice incapacitated Rey with a wave of his hand, and required a highly choreographed series of events in order to lose his fight.
- His story works great as a villainous foil to both Rey and Finn - [I]both[/I] of them have underdog traits emphasized against him, their deprived childhoods are contrasted by his privileged one, and he even erroneously but ironically projects his weaknesses on to them, making their virtues stand out - he calls Finn “traitor” when he’s murdered his loving father and Finn is standing loyally in defense of Rey, and his creepy narcissism and rejection of his family highlights Rey’s gaining of a family and growth to fight for others against him (at least in TFA’s ending before TLJ.)
In constants, I’d say his worst film is TLJ. Both TLJ and TROS are trying to have their cake and eat it too - have Kylo as a villain and Ben as a protagonist - but TROS at least knows you’d have to delineate between the characters, and offers *some* explanation for why he turned evil and why we should cheer for him eventually. TLJ just insists he can be do both without anymore explanation or build-up. TROS isn’t going deep with the character, but TLJ is as shallow as a puddle... and has the most bland costume as well.